Elizabeth's Request
by circleof2
Summary: A One Shot I wrote for my friend who is making a doujinshi http://eluva./ An interpretation of what could have happened between Edward's Mother and Carlisle before Edward gets turned. What did she say? Was there romance? please review me


Elizabeth's Request for circleof2 doujinshi

Edward:

I opened my eyes. Everything was in a sharper focus, in so much more detail than before. I sat up and stared at my ghostly reflection in the mirror across the room. I had the eyes of a monster … What had I become?

Carlisle:

Chicago 1918. That is where a new chapter in my life begun. I was working in a hospital that was over capacity with Spanish Flu victims. Almost everyone that checked in was carried out in a body bag. There had not been a pandemic like this in a long while. And through all that madness I can recall all my patients. But there is only one that changed my life in the way that Elizabeth Mason did.

I first met Elizabeth by her dying husband's side, Edward senior. She had a beautiful softness about her and seemed to radiate warmth - even when see watched her husband die from under her long lashes. She came to visit everyday around noon to feed Edward lunch.

'Beautiful day isn't it?' I remarked as I looked at Mr. Mason's chart.

'I didn't really notice to be honest.' She looked down at her sleeping husband and dabbed his damp forehead with a handkerchief. 'Will he be okay? I always thought that if Ed could survive the war he could survive anything.'

I heard her heart quicken as she waited for me to reply. 'It's hard to say. But it isn't looking good. His fever hasn't broke yet.'

'I thought you would say that.' She looked up at me with emerald eyes welling up with tears. 'I spent the whole war praying that if Edward would just be able to get back home in decent enough shape that we'd all be okay. I never imagined he'd come home only to have me watch him die.'

'Don't cry. I'm sure he'll get better soon.'

'You are just saying that to give me hope.'

'You're right. Did it work at all?'

She gave a shy smile and blushed. 'A little I admit. Thank you doctor Cullen.'

'You're welcome Mrs. Mason.'

With that she turned on her heel, picked up her empty lunch basket and walk out the door. I saw her walk down the sidewalk from the window. She turned around and saw me and waved, her face broke into a breathtaking smile.

In the days that followed I learned a great deal about Mrs. Mason, or Elizabeth, as she insisted I call her. I would take my lunch breaks in her husband's room as she faithfully sat by her Edward's side and held his clammy hand. She told me about growing up on a dairy farm and when she met Edward, who had come to fix her father's tractor, that it was love at first sight. They soon got married, had a son Edward junior, and moved to the city where Edward senior got a job at an appliance repair shop. All of this was very interesting to me. Few humans had ever opened up to me the way she did. Most were guarded and uneasy, which I could not blame them for, but I had an inkling that Elizabeth sensed I was not a threat. Her stories about her sisters and son stirred up emotions I thought were long dead within me. I now had a need for a family of my own - someone to love.

Unfortunately, her visits with me came to abrupt end. Edward died November 23, 1918. When I came into work I noticed Edward's bed was empty. I asked a nurse if Elizabeth had been contacted. She hadn't. I grabbed the home address from Edward's file and went to find her.

I was thankful for the snowy day. If it had not been for the overcast weather I would have sparkled in the street instead of gathering petite snowflakes in my hair and on my wool cloak like everyone else. Rushing by the busy shoppers of the main streets in almost a blur, I came to the small dead end where a crowded little house was wedged in between two large brick apartment buildings. Almost everything was covered in soot but it was apparent that the little house, Elisabeth's proud bungalow, tried desperately to combat the filth that carried through the air upwind. I remembered as I walked towards the door that she had told me about her planting boxes she had outside the windows, they were full of snow now, but I could picture them full of daffodils, tulips and happy daisies like she described them. I knocked, again and again until a tall adolescent boy answered the door. I was not mistaken when I asked if he was Edward junior. He looked very much like his attractive mother, only the untidiness of his copper hair was like his father. He looked at me gravely and their was urgency in his voice.

'We sent the neighbour to fetch a doctor almost 3 hours ago. Her condition has worsened. It's coming on quicker then it did with my father.'

I had no time to tell Edward about his father and luckily I always brought a selection of my equipment with me at all times. I went to Elizabeth's side and took her pulse. I could tell with a single touch that she had a fever.

She woke up as I grazed her with my icy hand.

'Dr. Cullen? Why did you come all this way to see me? It's only a cold. I'll be fine –' and she drifted off again.

'Will she be alright?' Edward asked from the back of the room. He was so much like his mother.

'She is dying, or rather she will die if we do not get her the hospital. Go to the nearest phone and call for an ambulance.'

Edward nodded and ran out the door.

I placed my hand on her forehead to help control the fever. I wished she did not need to feel this pain. Someone that good and pure should not need to be widowed and die suffering.

For a moment I wanted to escape with her while Edward was away. Take her to my own home and bite her. She would suffer as she changed, but then she could remain as she is now, forever. I would finally be able to open up to her in the way she allowed me into her world. We could be companions until the end of time.

Edward came back into the room. 'They are on their way.' He looked at me strangely. 'They told me my father was dead.'

'Yes. I'm sorry Edward.' I placed a hand on his shoulder. 'No one should find out about their father, or husband that way.' I looked over at Elizabeth's still form. 'That's why I came here. I wanted to break the news to your mother in person. If I had known that she was so ill I would have come much faster.'

Edward wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. 'Thank you for being there for my mother. She had lost all hope when my Dad got sick. I didn't know what was going to happen to her if he passed, but you take care of her in a way I can't. Thank you Dr. Cullen for saving my mother's heart and now she'll need you even more. Please don't leave us. I'm not strong enough to take care of her.'

As we broke apart I could see he was crying; looking at me with his mother's eyes. I felt terrible for ever thinking about taking his mother away from him.

'I will do everything in my power to make sure she survives.'

We got Elizabeth to the hospital and she remained weak but stable. I told the staff and Edward to refrain from telling her about her husband's death for fear that she may make a turn for the worse at this news. Edward came to visit every evening as he had to work all day at a grocery store since he was now the breadwinner. I visited Elizabeth as much as I could during my busy shifts. She always seemed to be glad to see me, when she was not sleeping, and would ask me about Edward senior's condition. I would reply that he was still sick but stable and that she should be more concerned with her own condition. To that she would smile and declare she was fine and would very much like to see her husband.

'I can't. Female patients are not allowed in the male patient's wing. I'm sorry Elizabeth but rules are rules.'

'It's alright. Dr Cullen, have you seen my boy today? He usually is here by now.'

'I haven't. Would you like me to go and try to find him?'

'I'm sure he is just working late. You would not be able to find him in time. Could you look after him when I'm gone?'

'Please don't talk like that Elizabeth. You are going to get better. You have my word.'

She smiled curtly. 'I know I'm at my end. I can feel it. I know you did your best Carlisle.' That was the first, and only time she said my name. It sounded like owl wings flapping in the night – soft and almost silent. 'I know my husband has been dead for sometime too.'

'Who told you?' I immediately suspected some of the gossipy nurse's.

'Nobody, I could just tell, you know?'

'I don't. Please explain.'

'I just could tell. I could feel that his soul had left. I don't blame you for not telling me. I would have done the same in your position.'

'But just because your husband is dead does not mean you have to die too.' I was panicking; trying to think of a way to convince her that there was hope. I never had felt so frightened. Again my plan to save her sprung to the forefront of my mind.

'I can save you. I will save you Elizabeth!'

'No.' she coughed. 'You risk exposing your secret.'

Horrified I looked at her.

'Don't worry I will die not telling anyone about it, but I beg you to let me die so I can be with my husband. I love him.' Tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped them with the handkerchief she held in her hand. It was the first time I noticed the handkerchief, embroidered along with her initials EM, was a small daisy.

'But when the time comes please save my son. I want the best for him and I know you can provide that for him. He will make a wonderful companion for you.'

I could hear her heart beating slower now, the light was beginning to leave her eyes and the flushness of her complexion from the fever was fading. It was her final moments. I watched as she took off her wedding ring and wrapped it in the handkerchief and placed it in my hand.

'Give this to him and tell him I love him.'

I nodded, if I could cry I would have. I had seen many humans die before, but this time I was not just watching a human die – I was watching an angel die. I heard the echo of her last heart beat resonate in my ears.

'Goodbye.' I whispered.

I noted the time of death and handed in her chart. The rest of my shift I did automatically, waiting for my shift to be over so I could find Edward. The entire time I was wrestling with myself, battling conscience if I could handle turning Edward. It was his mother's last wish, he had no one else, but he was so young and could I condemn another soul to live in this unnatural state because of my loneliness? I thought of Elizabeth again - dear sweet Elizabeth. Could I say no to her request?

It was dark at the end of my shift which allowed me to freely walk about the frozen streets to the Mason house. The snow had now covered every landmark in a layer of crisp white and the few people walking at this hour were men who had no homes to go to. As I walked one man tried to sneak up behind me and mug me, but I respectfully declined. However, I did offer to give him a few dollars to buy some dinner at the pub down the street. He seemed to think that was still an unfair trade and pulled a knife. When the blade broke on the skin of my chest I gently knocked him unconscious and, after placing a few dollars in his coat pocket, dropped him off by the pub door where the barkeep found him.

I knocked on the door, knowing from the sound of the frantic heart beat inside that someone was there. No one answered.

'Edward,' I called. 'Are you inside? It's Dr. Cullen from the hospital. I need to speak with you.'

The heartbeat kept rattling inside.

'I am coming in.' I gently nudged the door and the lock broke. Edward was passed out in his work clothes in front of me. His fever was abnormally high, even for the Spanish flu and he was in a state of delirium. Without wasting time I moved him to his bed and began making efforts to save him. I worked all night but his condition only worsened until he was on the brink of death. My moment had come. Do I attempt to turn Edward?

The sun was rising, his heartbeat was waning. I bit him. A sense of pure ecstasy over took me. Nothing like I ever felt before. As I continued to drink the only thought that entered my mind was the desire for more. Thankfully my brain soon began to function again, and I pulled myself away. Gasping for air I did not need I back away from Edward's corpse.

'He's dead.' I thought. 'In my madness I killed that innocent boy.'

I sat on a chair facing his bed, for hours; the only thing that changed was the amount of light that entered through the simple white curtains. One day passed, two days, three days I sat and stewed in my own misery and self-hatred until Edward rolled over onto his back. His eyes opened, they were crimson red. I watched as he sat up and took his first look at his new face in the mirror across the room.

'I didn't kill him?' I thought

Edward looked over at me puzzled. 'I'm here aren't I? What happened to me? Is this from the flu?'

'I didn't say anything Edward.' I replied, realising that Edward had a special ability like other vampires I had met when I lived in Europe. 'You are a vampire Edward. I changed you because you were dying and it was your mothers dying wish for me to save you.'

'Why didn't you save her?' He hissed.

'She wanted to be with your father in heaven. But she didn't want you to die. She loved you and didn't want you to experience death.'

'So I'm alone now - alone and a monster?'

'You have a choice to be a monster, or, I hope you will choose to stay with me and try to help humanity.'

Edward looked down for a moment and thought deeply about what had transpired in the last few weeks and what possibilities the future held for him. When he looked up I knew his answer.


End file.
